You Speak Such Good English (Part 2)

Airashi Dutta shares why she refuses to consider ‘you speak such good English’ a compliment and other common experiences as an international student in St Andrews. Part 2.

Within the St Andrews community, there seems to be a divide, a feeling of “us” and “them” that is unintentionally cultivated. I have experienced a series of racial micro aggressive encounters that aren’t lethal but are most certainly hurtful. One example of this is being called ‘exotic’. Once again this is something that is seen as a compliment but really isn’t; you would call a rug ‘exotic’, not a living breathing person.

From 2012. The most recent official The Kate Kennedy Club group photograph for public viewing.

As we are in a bubble, and despite my love for tradition, some ‘quintessentially St Andrews’ components are antiquated and could use with a 21st century update. The Kate Kennedy Club, the club we love to hate, is an example of such an institution. Made of predominantly ‘posh’ or well to do white boys and barely a handful of people of colour, it can hardly be classed as a modern charity or an inclusive one. The insertion of the ‘token’ female in the group in 2012 is hardly inclusive – more than half the university’s student body is excluded from the time of birth. Sure, one could argue that there are international members, but does this represent the body of international students as a whole, or just those from other European nations and the western world at large? Looking through the annual group photos of the club, it is evident that the point stands… hardly takes Sherlock Holmes to arrive at that conclusion.

Treatment of the different racial groups by the student body also varies greatly. The Scandinavian Society organises the Nobel Ball every November, a highly competitive month for events. This year’s edition saw the tickets sell out before they had even been offered to those that had queued in front of Hope Street. Clearly, it is a sell-out event that is highly sought after, and with it comes the vibe of classy fun. There’s also Sitara*, the fashion show organised by the Sanskriti Society. Students at the event are whisked away to a world of South Asian culture fused with modernity and high fashion. Also a highly sought after event, it breaks away from traditional catwalk routine, creating a warm and inclusive vibe. In the midst of the fashion show season, Sitara* is one of the most grounded and unique events one can go to.

What do both of these big events have in common? They are both organised by committees made up predominantly by people who come from the respective cultures, thereby giving the group the chance to have direct control over how they choose to have their culture and society at large perceived by the St Andrews community. Juxtapose this with Xavier Ball, formally branded the (in)famous Bongo Ball, where a committee of predominantly white students had complete control over how they projected their take on African culture. This completely fetishises African culture and is utterly inappropriate, and ‘fun’ is not a valid justification for trivialising someone else’s culture and simplifying it into animal prints and the Lion King. Yes, I understand that the main goal behind Xavier Ball is to raise funds for the Xavier Project (a very compelling cause founded by an inspiring St Andrews Alumnus), but perhaps the method to go about doing so could be altered. So hats off to this year’s Xavier Ball committee for rebranding themselves and distancing themselves from the ‘Africa meets black tie’ theme.

Once again, I want to return to the original thought that spurred this piece of writing. I love this university and the Bubble, I have met some of my best friends here. But there are some experiences that taint this otherwise happy picture of my university days. Keep the so called ‘compliment’ of language proficiency to yourselves. Or even better, admit the gap in your knowledge (nobody knows everything after all) and use this opportunity to learn about another culture. Being asked by people why one speaks such good English is a question that belongs in a bygone era – it was one my mother was asked when she started working in the nineties, not one international students studying at one of the UK’s most prestigious university should be asked.

5 Responses

As an international student at St Andrews too, I’d like to add my opinion to this article.

Firstly, your point about the KKC, Scandinavian Society, and Sitara*: I find that the reason these societies are composed racially or culturally the way they are because they are largely self selecting. If you walk into a KKC recruiting event, you’re bound to find a majority of prospectives posh English boys. Same goes for Scandinavian Society, or Sitara*, because many join these groups to find people of similar backgrounds and shared values. Just because you join that society does not mean that you do not want to ‘branch out’ and meet people outside of those groups, but just that in such a cosmopolitan university, you also want to meet some people you have shared values/experiences with. Nothing wrong with that.

Especially an event like Nobel Ball. I understand the frustration of many students when they queued to no avail, however, is it not only fair that members of the Scandinavian Society and friends of committee (who likely are more or less of Scandinavian origin) get to go to their own ball? To enjoy their own culture? Is it unfair there isn’t enough space, perhaps — and maybe the committee should look at alternative venues to seat more, however, as well all know, November is a busy time for balls, and space is limited.

Shooting back to XB, I’m a bit unsure of what point you’re making here (if you take out your point about Bongo Ball, since it’s very obvious the committee this year went to very painstaking lengths to rebrand the ball in a non-offencive way). Again, I realize that when people comment on how good your English is, it may make you feel alienated, but considering it’s not your first language, it’s almost certain that most of these comments are meant as compliments, and while it’s important for people to be conscious and ‘politically correct’ about these things, I wouldn’t spin it to be more than what it is.

Rather than being offended, I think you should consider that fact that with its cosmopolitan nature, there are many, many people at St Andrews who are not native English speakers, and haven’t had much formal Education in English. prior to arriving here – and thus who do speak or write was well as you do,

I think this article raises some good points but it is a bit harsh to criticize people’s lack of knowledge about Singapore when you yourself said that friends back home just (at least as far as comments went) associated Scotland with cold weather and bad food (opinions just as limited and potentially a tad offensive as associating Singapore with fines for chewing gum). I also think many people comment on the excellent English of international students because British people are often so ashamed of our lack of linguistic proficiency in foreign languages. Some people may mean it badly but for many it is quite the opposite.

Airashi,
I’m sorry you find some people’s questions or attitudes unpleasant or hurtful at times and I can’t explain anything about the comments of ‘exoticism’ you’ve received, not knowing the context, but regarding your main point about ‘how come you speak English so well’ from your description it really sounds like the question comes from a lack of knowledge on the side of whoever it is who’s asking you that. It seems that it’s British (or at least Anglosaxon) people who are asking you about your English, but I’m afraid that that doesn’t mean they know everything about British history…
I’m sure (at least I really hope) that there’s no offence intended when people ask you about your English and so I’d really recommend you try not to take it personally, but instead explain, as the person is asking you to, literally why you, or more generally, people in Singapore, speak English.

It is slightly ironic that you expect other people to have an in-depth knowledge about Singapore and its colonial past but at the same time judge the folks from the KKC according to pictures you found somewhere on the internet and and without having any idea who these individual people actually are….